An away defeat to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night leaves Juventus and star forward Cristiano Ronaldo facing an unthinkable outcome.
Invariably, the main talking point heading into this match was Cristiano Ronaldo. The Juventus forward is currently looking for a landmark sixth European title and, in the process, to end the Old Lady’s long title drought in this competition.
The first stop on the road to glory was Atletico Madrid, a club which the Portuguese winger has buried on more than one occasion in Europe across his career. Five years ago he scored a penalty against them in the final minutes of stoppage time to secure a 10th Champions League title for Real Madrid, his former employers.
Three years ago he scored another penalty in the final against Atleti, this one the winning kick in a shootout. Just two seasons ago, he scored a hat-trick against Wednesday’s opponents to help Real once again triumph over their city rivals in Europe, this time in the semifinals rather than the final. On paper, it seemed like the perfect place to kickstart the hunt for title number six for Ronaldo and title number three for Juventus. It proved a very different story out on the pitch.
Much like there is very little his team can hide behind in the aftermath of this defeat, there is very little Ronaldo can hide behind either. He was kept quiet in the first half, contained to just two decent shots on goal and two touches in the box. In the second half, the 33-year old’s threat was completely nullified by the home defense, with Ronaldo’s biggest contributions in the second 45 coming in the form of a front row seat for Atletico Madrid’s second goal and a mis-hit header toward the end the match.
Obviously one can’t blame Ronaldo alone for Juventus’s attacking woes. After all, he wasn’t the only Juventus attacker on the pitch and, in comparison to his team mates, the Portuguese forward was relatively busy, especially when one compares this performance to his standout games with Madrid over the years. At Los Blancos, Ronaldo regularly finished knockout matches with the least fewest touches on his team; he finished Wednesday’s game with among the most, even if not many of them counted for much.
It would be foolish to start writing Juventus’s Champions League obituary now. They were in the same position last season and were able to turn that tie around away from home, not to mention they didn’t have the competition’s top goalscorer in their ranks. Inevitably, this loss could very well go down as a speed bump on the way to a memorable season for Juventus. This game could prove just a mere blip in the radar for Ronaldo as he orchestrates another Champions League victory.
However, Atletico Madrid pose a much different threat than Tottenham did last season. And, unlike then, there’s a whole different level of pressure on the team, as they’re likely to find out in the Thursday morning papers.
Now Juventus have Ronaldo. It’s no secret he was signed specifically to help the Old Lady win this competition. Failing to win the tournament is forgivable — strange things happen in knockout matches — but an exit at this early stage would surely do far more damage to both Juventus and Ronaldo himself.